


We Must Not Forget

by Dracula



Category: The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova
Genre: American History, Ancient History, Art History, Family History, Gen, Oral History, Queer History, Women's History Month
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 05:22:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4007440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dracula/pseuds/Dracula
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My name is Bernardi. Antonio Bernardi. Professor Antonio Bernardi. I am from Italy, but at the moment, I am working for a university in Germany. As a history professor, I fight against forgetting...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Historian

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Gegen das Vergessen](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4007395) by [Dracula](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dracula/pseuds/Dracula). 



Dear reader,

you probably have never heard of me before. But still, I am writing to you. My name is Bernardi. Professor Antonio Bernardi. First, I want to tell you about myself:

I was born in Rome in 1962. I spent my childhood there, and I like thinking of that time. St. Peter's Basilica. Trevi Fountain. Colosseum. All of them are beautiful places in my city, and Rome was an important place in history. I have to say that I am very pleased about this. The most famous chapter in Roman history is the Imperium Romanum - the Holy Roman Empire. Indeed, there are still many traces of it. The sights like the Colosseum, of course. But also many other things. Things that most people do not know are Roman. Flowing water - from aqueducts back then and now from pipes -, floor heating... pizza, by the way, is not Roman but Greek. I have always loved history. That is why I decided to study it when I finished school. Nowadays, people laugh at you when you tell them that you want to study history. "History? You can't earn any money with this" is what they say. They do not understand how important history is. I remember what my former history teacher told us in our very first history lesson. "Who wants to understand what is now has to understand what used to be." A sentence that had - and still has - a huge influence on me and the way I think. And indeed: Questions like "Daddy, where does democracy come from?" or "Mommy, why is 'you witch' an offense? There are so many nice witches on TV!" cannot be answered without knowing history. But I am afraid that far too few people know enough about history. How many mistakes and conflicts could be avoided if they knew about it! The Islamic State - the so-called Islamic State, I have to say, since many Muslims say that it is not Islamic - would know that religious massacres are useless. The government of Turkey would know that you must not deny genocides. Neonazis would know that Hitler's ideology was not good at all. And so on. I could give so many examples, but let us stop here. I live in Wolfsburg now. It has become my home. Besides Rome, of course. I live in Wolfsburg, but I work in Braunschweig - or Brunswick -, at the Technical University. They do not just teach about technology there. You can study many other subjects, such as history (Surprise, surprise! I teach that.). Here in Wolfsburg, there is a university as well - the Ostfalia - but it is only for economy. That is why I take a half-an-hour train ride to Brunswick every morning. I mean, if the train drivers are not on a strike... otherwise, I take my car, but this takes me longer to get there. Why I am writing to you? I want to make you, my dear reader, think... Yours sincerely, Professor Antonio Bernardi


	2. Wolfsburg or The Presence of History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My name is Bernardi. Antonio Bernardi. Professor Antonio Bernardi. I am from Italy, but at the moment, I am working for a university in Germany. As a history professor, I fight against forgetting...

Dear reader,

it is me again, Professor Bernardi. I am pleased by the fact that my first letter made you read my second one as well.

Do you know Wolfsburg? I bet you know it. If not: It is the town where Volkswagen has its headquarters. I live there if you remember. Have you ever been here? If so: What did you see when you were walking through the streets? Shops, I guess. The statues of wolves downtown. And the fountains. The shopping center. The townhall. The Volkswagen factory, I am sure. Our cultural sites maybe. I mean the theatre, the planetarium, the town's library, the so-called culture village Alt-Hesslingen and the CongressPark. Maybe you have also seen the castle. 

But have you also seen history? I see it every day. Therefore, let me invite you to a little tour. Before we start, I want you to know something: Wolfsburg is a very new town. It has been founded by Adolf Hitler in 1939. That is why there is no old town.

Now, our tour. Let us start at the Volkswagen factory, the most famous place in Wolfsburg. At least it is constantly shown on TV. Today, Volkswagen is one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world. Almost everyone knows the company. You probably do as well. But do you know what this factory saw? When I look at it, I see the things as if they were happening now. Right here, before my eyes. I see how the actual car factory is being used for producing weapons during World War Two. How brand new tanks are leaving it. How forced laborers are working day and night. The thing with the forced laborers was started by Ferdinand Porsche, by the way. But still, he is seen as a hero. There is a Porsche street, a Ferdinand Porsche school, the car manufacturer Porsche and so on. Do you think this is just? I do not.  
I also see how the Volkswagen facotry is being covered in smoke to protect it from the attacks of the allies - those are Russia, America, Great Britain and France, but only America and Great Britain played an important role here. Those attempts were not very successful, I have to say, since two thirds of the factory were destroyed. Residential areas, by the way, were not attacked.  
And I hear Major Ivan Hirst plead for the survival of the factory. Actually, they wanted to destroy it, like other production sites for weapons in Germany, but Major Hirst prevented them from doing so. He should have become a hero and not Ferdinand Porsche, but of course, only a small street was named after him.

Let us go on. The next thing I want to show you is a street called 'Schachtweg'.


End file.
